30th Week in Ordinary Time (B) : Friday 29th October 2021

Jesus has accepted an invitation to eat in the house of a leading Pharisee on a Sabbath. Jesus was not a snob; he would accept invitations from Pharisees and tax collectors alike. But, we are told, they were watching him closely. The reason was apparent. There was a man suffering from dropsy right in front of Jesus. What was he doing there? Quite obviously, he had been ‘planted’. Would Jesus heal the man even though it was the Sabbath? Even though it was not urgent? It could have been done the next day.

Jesus pre-empts their thinking and asks if it was according to the Law to heal on the Sabbath. Of course, they would want to say “No,” but they decided not to say anything. Jesus had caught them out before. He then goes on to reveal their hypocrisy. If one of them had a son or an ox that fell into a pit on a Sabbath, would they not immediately affect a rescue? However, what was all right for a family member or even for an animal they owned, should not be applied to a stranger who probably was also poor.

For Jesus, people and their needs always came before rules and regulations, even religious rules. The first — and only commandment — that Jesus gave us was: “Love one another as I have loved you.” All other laws take second place. Sabbath or no Sabbath, this man needed God’s loving help — now.

Lord, ‘by this will all know that we are Your followers and that we have love for one another’.